Distinguished Speaker Series explores ‘Lariat Advance’

The CGSC Foundation and Alumni Association and its Simons Center hosted the fourth lecture of the 2026 Distinguished Speaker Series at JW Crancer’s in downtown Leavenworth, Kansas on Oct. 14, 2026. In this installment of the series, retired Col. Gregory Fontenot, an author and former director of the School of Advanced Military Studies at Fort Leavenworth, discussed Lariat Advance, a recently published anthology he co-edited that examines the U.S. Army’s approach to war readiness during the Cold War and offers insights relevant to readiness today.

The evening began with a reception, followed by the CGSC Foundation’s Simons Center Deputy Director John Nelson welcoming the attendees and recognizing sponsors. After the dinner period Nelson introduced Fontenot.

As he writes in his introduction of the book, Fontenot told the story of how following the war in Vietnam, the Army recognized the need to reform and reorganize to meet an increased threat from the USSR and the Warsaw Pact. “Lariat Advance” were the code words used to initiate troop movements into general defensive positions or to conduct drills to demonstrate preparedness. Units became well-rehearsed in executing Lariat Advance events because their morale, professionalism, and very reputations were on the line in response to how well they performed.

Fontenot said capturing the details of how the Army operated in the Cold War stems from the resemblance of the current era to that following the Vietnam War. As in that era, we have experienced an unsatisfying end to two long wars, there are emerging threats and continued global instability combined with a loss of focus on training and a sense that the force has been “used up,” all the while the character of warfare is changing. He said the analogy between the two eras is not perfect, but is very similar. He described how Lariat Advance exercises promoted learning and produced a culture of readiness bolstered by a training system for units and leaders that operated on and freely discussed and debated doctrine.

Fontenot was careful to point out the the anthology does not address all facets of the Cold War and is not intended to be a complete history of U.S. Army units in Europe at the time, nor does it provide an analysis of national security policy or the integration of women in the Army. As he writes in the introduction, Fontenot said, “We believe this anthology is relevant because it is accessible to the general public but, more importantly, because it will resonate with the contemporary Army. The U.S. Army that emerged from the post-9/11 war must undergo a transition. We believe the cohorts of U.S. leaders and soldiers will not only affect a transition, but also a transformation like that one that post-Vietnam generations achieved.”

Written by fifteen distinguished contributors who lived this era, Fontenot said Lariat Advance offers lessons on readiness and institutional reform that remain relevant as today’s Army reshapes for future strategic competition.

After a question and answer period, Nelson presented Fontenot with a small gift in appreciation for his participation in the Distinguished Speaker Series.

For more photos see the CGSC Foundation Flickr album

Colonel (Ret.) Gregory Fontenot served in the U.S. Army as an armor officer for more than 28 years at duty locations in the United States, Europe, the Balkans and Southwest Asia. His key assignments included commanding a battalion during Operations Desert Shield and Storm and a brigade in Bosnia. As an educator he taught history at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and was director of the School of Advanced Military Studies at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. In his last assignment he commanded the Battle Command Training Program at Fort Leavenworth.

After his military retirement in 1999, Fontenot embarked on a second career as a Department of the Army Civilian in the military intelligence specialty. In this capacity he served as director of the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command’s wargaming directorate and later as director of the University of Foreign Military and Cultural Studies, the Army’s “red teaming” school. He served on campaign plan assessment teams in Iraq in 2010 and Afghanistan in 2011. He left the civil service in 2013 to pursue his interest in writing military history.

Fontenot has authored numerous articles and book reviews in Army magazine, Military Review and other publications, and is co-author of On Point: The United States Army in Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003. In 2017 he published The 1st Infantry and the US Army Transformed: The Road to Victory in Desert Storm 1970-1991, which earned him the 2017 Army Historical Foundation Distinguished Writing Award for Unit History. In 2019 he published Loss and Redemption at St Vith: The 7th Armored Division in the Battle of the Bulge and his most recent work, No Sacrifice too Great: The 1st Infantry Division in World War II was published in June 2023.

Among many other awards and recognition, Fontenot was inducted into the Fort Leavenworth Hall of Fame in May 2025.

The CGSC Foundation and Alumni Association through its Simons Center conducts the Distinguished Speaker Series (DSS) program to offer extracurricular, educational lectures intended to help enrich the Command and General Staff School curriculum and provide opportunities for outreach to the public. Topics covered in the Distinguished Speaker Series of lectures span the gamut of leadership and ethics, organizational effectiveness, collaboration, as well as current events and issues in business, government and the military. Programs are made possible in part by sponsors.

~ Thank you to our 2026 DSS Sponsors ~

~Five Stars~

Pritzker Military Foundation
The Tim and Karen Carlin Family Foundation

~Four Stars~

Armed Forces Insurance

~Three Stars~

Col. (Ret.) Bill and Marge Eckhardt
First Command
Col. (Ret.) Bob and Terri Ulin

~Two Stars~

Demaranville & Associate, CPAs
Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Rich and Mary Ann Keller
Shetlar Law Firm

~One Star~

Advantage Printing
Brig. Gen. (Ret.) Stan Cherrie
Lt. Col. (Ret.) William and Kathleen Connor, Sr.
Col. (Ret.) Tom and Candy Dials
Geiger Ready-Mix
Col. (Ret.) Todd and Leslie Schmidt